Tekken is a massively popular series, which has already sold 9 million copies in its lifetime. However, there is still something about the early games in the fighting game franchise Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, which have left their mark in the cultural consciousness in a completely different way.
It was certainly successful than Tekken 2 because to the proliferation of demo games on the original PlayStation. That said, though, it was certainly superior to Tekken 2 in every way, and there''s something about the design, the music, the story, and the whole aesthetic that just belongs so well in the 90s. It''s become more than a game; it''s become a source of nostalgia.
It''s fitting that Netflix''s latest video game adaptation of Tekken 3 is rerunped until the third King of Iron Fist Tournament; we see a young Jin Kazama being taught to channel his rage and power only for good. Heihachi Mishima, one of Japan''s richest and most terrible men, is forced to seek out his father.
There are a few anime conventions at play, with an angry adolescent traveling under his strict and abusive tutor, before outgrowing him, and being used as a pawn in a much larger game of four-dimensional chess. But the thrill in the Tekken anime does not come from seeing the screen when your main character arrives and going oh, I wonder if theyll use that move I like!
The anime Tekken revolves itself on Tekken 3, and the whole thing is about organizing a tournament to lure Ogre out of hiding and, in doing so, it ends up being a well-written love letter to one of the gaming''s biggest fighting games. There are plenty of moments in the show that perfectly mimic and represent the thought processes we did 23 years ago.
Then there''s just how energizing and fun the whole thing is, anyway. The production parameters are sky high, and if you get over the infamous shading triangle that darkens the head of every character, the visuals are quite impressive. For anime, however, it''s a shame that the Japanese VO is as good as anything else there at the moment, except Demon Slayer. So, here''s how you can see it here.
Every tension between a Chinese schoolgirl and a British assassin receives a pleasant and slow character development, as Heihachi, Ganryu, and the Mishima Zaibatsu lot do something unpeakable in the name of becoming the patriarch of the family even more of a chokehold on society.
One of my favourite elements of the show was how it gets under the skin of lore: as a nerd who finished all the episodes in Tekken 3 and saw the likes of Julia Chang riding a JACK unit and wondering why a random scientist in space would want to nuke her with a laser, this show goes some way to answering the questions. We see Doctor Bosconovitch, who is more than just an environmental activist, who is also Native American.
There are also fight scenes, if you have even a passing knowledge of Tekken, youll know Heihachis dual-palm smack, Kings Giant Swing (and this one really makes him look like a beast) in this episode, and while I was watching the final episode, I discovered myself almost hypnotised into reinstalling Tekken 7.
Given that Netflix gets a lot of stick for its interpretations and executions of classic gaming franchises heres looking at you, Resi is pleased to see Tekken again throughout this season; I really hope that this episode will coincide with Kazuyas'' return, as well as how the Devil Gene works, and how Netflix might animate the absolutely luxurous Tekken 5 intro (if we ever get that far).
Given that we have Tekken 8 (or something) on the way that a lot of people are hoping to do the Mortal Kombat thing, and that it has a valid story, I think the course is set for a long time in the Tekken anime. It''s a good way to keep people in the loop as the games become more nonsensical. Lets simply hope Netflix does not do a classic Netflix and cancel it, one season in.
